Dive Brief:
- Drake University’s core software is designed for Windows, but many of its students are Mac users —a predicament that prompted the school to experiment with virtualized applications rather than asking students to set up entire virtual desktops.
- Whereas students used to have go through multiple steps, first downloading the virtual desktop and then installing Windows and then the application, now, with a new Citrix solution, students can follow simple steps and access those applications from a wider range of devices.
- Campus Technology reports that one hiccup was with inadequate graphics processing power to effectively offer a mapping solution through the virtual application, but that was fixed with the NVIDIA GRID K2 card, which provides for graphics acceleration.
Dive Insight:
Campus IT departments are forced to respond to the increasing number of devices students bring to campus as well as the range of device types. It can be hard to keep up, but developing the tools to respond to this tech diversity is an important way to keep students happy. They want to be sure they can use the devices they bring to campus, especially as they are becoming critical tools for the classroom.
The changes at Drake University drastically increase the functionality of programs in the College of Business, Law School, College of Arts and Sciences, and the library. They also cut down on staff time needed to help students set up virtual workspaces, along with student user time in actually accomplishing tasks with the programs.